Sharocks
Well-Known Member
- First Name
- Sha
- Joined
- Feb 16, 2023
- Threads
- 4
- Messages
- 327
- Reaction score
- 541
- Location
- Boston, MA
- Car(s)
- 23 A91 MT, 04 M3, 05 M3, 00 M5, 00 Z3M, 04 X5 6MT
- Thread starter
- #1
Hola, I've been meaning to create this thread for a while but I got busy and my car is stored for winter because I live in the hellscape that is New England.
TL;DR:
Anyways, here is the overall video going over the kit, a brief install overview, why I decided to work with Ron to build this for this platform, and ultimately my thoughts on it overall.
I don't do YouTube or anything creative like this so while I had the raw footage, a group of folks made the video for me.
Please excuse any cringe or whatever, I didn't have much of a say with this one but I will be more involved in future ones I hope haha.
Remember to like, comment, and subscribe! (I had to
)
If you don't wanna watch all 12 minutes, here's a short comparison (haha get it?).
Rambling:
Alright where to begin?
Well, it's no surprise to me or anyone that owns an A90 Supra that it's mostly a BMW product.
That has it's own pros and cons.
A con is that BMW historically does not manufacture the greatest or most confidence inspiring shifters.
Personally, I did not even consider this car unless a manual was offered.
While the initial reviews of the shifter were positive, I went in VERY reserved because I don't believe in journalism hype.
I've been in M cars for over a decade, closer to a second one, but this is no M car.
Honestly, I was surprised by the shifter in the A90 Supra. It's the best factory effort in a mostly BMW product.
Now I know the naysayers are going to be up in arms about how Toyota engineers did X,Y, and Z.
Yea they did that using BMW/Magna parts. Remember this is a joint venture product, I'm almost 99% positive the same gearbox and linkage is going into the Z4.
The only thing that's traditionally different from a BMW product is the shift knob. It has less weight and it's lower in the car from the get go.
In BMW's of the past you'd have to buy a ZHP knob and wait for bushings/synchros to wear out before realizing it wasn't the knob that did anything at all.
Here's where Ron from AutoSolutions comes in.
A close friend of mine in a E86 Z4 M Coupe was tired of getting gear lockout in 2nd gear. The E86 Z4 M ran a ZF 6 speed instead of the Getrag 420G because the trans tunnel in the Coupe was too narrow.
He had Ron build him a kit and I got to drive the car in 2010.
I was hooked.
Slick shifting, you can feel each gate, smooth engagement, notchy but in a good way, reminiscent of a Porsche GT product.
Ever since, EVERY single M car I own has had an AutoSolutions SSK installed.
Transforms the experience IMHO.
Now this A90 Supra, well the shifter was good, I'd say it's about 50% of the way there to where the AutoSolutions is.
But is it worth the change?
Well, yes.
One of the first things I did was delete the CDV during my break in oil change. Thanks to member @Spart for the help and guidance on what E90 parts to procure.
That helped immensely as it always does on BMW manuals.
However now with the clutch pedal being more linear, the shifter was lacking, and what it lacked was precision.
At 1300 miles on the clock on my A91-MT I made the decision to call Ron, who has been above all, a great friend.
I let him know I wanted this kit made, I didn't even care if it was just for me. Obviously that's not good for business so after some back and forth, he agreed to build a jig for it, IF I was able to procure the factory shifter assembly he could take measurements off of.
Usually, this is no problem.
But with this car, we have issues getting parts from Toyota efficiently.
I went to a dealer and asked to buy the assembly and was told there was no ETA on getting the stuff.
So I went to eBay.
I found a seller parting out a CULG A91-MT and I purchased the assembly from them and had that directly shipped to Ron.
A few weeks later and hours of back and forth on what would make sense being that I was the end user, we decided on a game plan.
Specs:
3 adjustable heights for the level with the middle position being closest to stock (I'm running this)
Works with any BMW shift knob (Duh)
More precise feeling and easier to get into each gear
Audible click
Stiffer poly trans bushings
Almost zero slop
Slightly more effort
Reduction in throws by about 15-25% depending on height selected
Installation:
It's not a tough thing to DIY, I've DIY'd AutoSolutions SSK's on plenty of BMW's in the past but it will take an entire afternoon or day depending on how skilled you are.
It's a tight space so having a lift is ideal but not necessary.
I worked with my local shop to install the kit, took their Master Tech about 2 hours to get the thing in.
Overall:
I was chasing a GT3 feeling shifter in this car.
This is the closest we can get without making some serious sacrifices.
I'm sure CAE and Coolerworx will release kits for this car soon.
However they do not work with the OE knobs, look very out of place if the car is a street car, make a ton of noise, need constant adjustments, cost a lot more, tougher to install, and long term can cause wear to the transmission (Bimmerworld did a study on chassis mounted SSK's on BMW transmissions, you can find it).
The jig is made. 6 kits were made in total, all have been sold.
These are made to order, so expect a waiting time.
Ron hand makes these kits so it's worth the wait.
Let me know on any questions!
TL;DR:
Anyways, here is the overall video going over the kit, a brief install overview, why I decided to work with Ron to build this for this platform, and ultimately my thoughts on it overall.
I don't do YouTube or anything creative like this so while I had the raw footage, a group of folks made the video for me.
Please excuse any cringe or whatever, I didn't have much of a say with this one but I will be more involved in future ones I hope haha.
Remember to like, comment, and subscribe! (I had to
)If you don't wanna watch all 12 minutes, here's a short comparison (haha get it?).
Rambling:
Alright where to begin?
Well, it's no surprise to me or anyone that owns an A90 Supra that it's mostly a BMW product.
That has it's own pros and cons.
A con is that BMW historically does not manufacture the greatest or most confidence inspiring shifters.
Personally, I did not even consider this car unless a manual was offered.
While the initial reviews of the shifter were positive, I went in VERY reserved because I don't believe in journalism hype.
I've been in M cars for over a decade, closer to a second one, but this is no M car.
Honestly, I was surprised by the shifter in the A90 Supra. It's the best factory effort in a mostly BMW product.
Now I know the naysayers are going to be up in arms about how Toyota engineers did X,Y, and Z.
Yea they did that using BMW/Magna parts. Remember this is a joint venture product, I'm almost 99% positive the same gearbox and linkage is going into the Z4.
The only thing that's traditionally different from a BMW product is the shift knob. It has less weight and it's lower in the car from the get go.
In BMW's of the past you'd have to buy a ZHP knob and wait for bushings/synchros to wear out before realizing it wasn't the knob that did anything at all.
Here's where Ron from AutoSolutions comes in.
A close friend of mine in a E86 Z4 M Coupe was tired of getting gear lockout in 2nd gear. The E86 Z4 M ran a ZF 6 speed instead of the Getrag 420G because the trans tunnel in the Coupe was too narrow.
He had Ron build him a kit and I got to drive the car in 2010.
I was hooked.
Slick shifting, you can feel each gate, smooth engagement, notchy but in a good way, reminiscent of a Porsche GT product.
Ever since, EVERY single M car I own has had an AutoSolutions SSK installed.
Transforms the experience IMHO.
Now this A90 Supra, well the shifter was good, I'd say it's about 50% of the way there to where the AutoSolutions is.
But is it worth the change?
Well, yes.
One of the first things I did was delete the CDV during my break in oil change. Thanks to member @Spart for the help and guidance on what E90 parts to procure.
That helped immensely as it always does on BMW manuals.
However now with the clutch pedal being more linear, the shifter was lacking, and what it lacked was precision.
At 1300 miles on the clock on my A91-MT I made the decision to call Ron, who has been above all, a great friend.
I let him know I wanted this kit made, I didn't even care if it was just for me. Obviously that's not good for business so after some back and forth, he agreed to build a jig for it, IF I was able to procure the factory shifter assembly he could take measurements off of.
Usually, this is no problem.
But with this car, we have issues getting parts from Toyota efficiently.
I went to a dealer and asked to buy the assembly and was told there was no ETA on getting the stuff.
So I went to eBay.
I found a seller parting out a CULG A91-MT and I purchased the assembly from them and had that directly shipped to Ron.
A few weeks later and hours of back and forth on what would make sense being that I was the end user, we decided on a game plan.
Specs:
3 adjustable heights for the level with the middle position being closest to stock (I'm running this)
Works with any BMW shift knob (Duh)
More precise feeling and easier to get into each gear
Audible click
Stiffer poly trans bushings
Almost zero slop
Slightly more effort
Reduction in throws by about 15-25% depending on height selected
Installation:
It's not a tough thing to DIY, I've DIY'd AutoSolutions SSK's on plenty of BMW's in the past but it will take an entire afternoon or day depending on how skilled you are.
It's a tight space so having a lift is ideal but not necessary.
I worked with my local shop to install the kit, took their Master Tech about 2 hours to get the thing in.
Overall:
I was chasing a GT3 feeling shifter in this car.
This is the closest we can get without making some serious sacrifices.
I'm sure CAE and Coolerworx will release kits for this car soon.
However they do not work with the OE knobs, look very out of place if the car is a street car, make a ton of noise, need constant adjustments, cost a lot more, tougher to install, and long term can cause wear to the transmission (Bimmerworld did a study on chassis mounted SSK's on BMW transmissions, you can find it).
The jig is made. 6 kits were made in total, all have been sold.
These are made to order, so expect a waiting time.
Ron hand makes these kits so it's worth the wait.
Let me know on any questions!
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